The Rev. Dr. George Marion Edwards was appointed to serve as pastor of the Church in May 1931, and served until September 1959. On October 4, 1959, the then Rev. Clinton Reuben Coleman (later elected a Bishop in the A.M.E. Zion Church), assumed pastoral leadership of Pennsylvania Avenue. He built upon the church’s strong foundation and history and increased the involvement of the membership by among other innovative ideas, establishing additional membership organizations.
Following Bishop Coleman’s leadership, the then Rev. Marshall Haywood Strickland (later elected a Bishop in the A.M.E Zion Church) was appointed to lead our congregation in 1972. Just three years later in 1975, and in keeping with the goals set under his pastoral leadership, ground was broken for a state-of-the-art church building that would be located at the South West corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Dolphin Street. Two years later a jubilant congregation marched into a brand new church on Sunday, April 10, 1977. The church continued to grow and the ministry flourished. On May 15, 1988 the mortgage was burned.
Continuing the legacy of a historic church and great pulpiteers, the (then) Rev. Dr. Dennis V. Proctor was appointed as pastor of the historic Pennsylvania Avenue A.M.E Zion Church in 1992. Dr. Proctor’s pastorate and vision for over a decade had increased membership to 1,800. In 2008, Dr. Proctor was elected the 97th Bishop in succession in the A.M.E. Zion Church.